Stress
by Hypo Prower
Summary: Wonder why Lee is hospitalized so much? He has his reasons.


Rock Lee lay in a hospital bed for what seemed like the twenty-billionth time. First it was the fight after Gaara, then it was the idiot who broke his ankle, then it was the whole dojo thing…his hospitalizations seemed to never stop.

But what was REALLY causing him to lose focus? What was making him so stressed?

It wasn't long that Lee sat there still at a total loss about why he was in the hospital in the first place before Tsunade came in. She was carrying a clipboard, but she seemed a little shaky. Lee blinked his wide eyes at his Hokage.

"Um…Lady Tsunade?"

The kunoichi looked up at Lee with glazed over eyes. "Yeah?"

"Is something the matter?"

Tsunade laughed a little bit, though Lee couldn't find anything funny. "Nah, just had a bit too much to drink last night."

Lee furrowed his brow, confused that the royal and noble Hokage would do such a thing. "Does this happen often?" he asked again, trying to read further into Tsunade's drinking habits.

"Oh, yeah. Heck, I was even drunk when I did your surgery. Ain't that funny? Ha ha ha!" Lee glared with a bewildered expression at the blonde as she hiccupped and exited the room, staggering a bit.

_I wish I would have know that before…_

Lee waited a bit longer, wondering exactly what to do, since he surely couldn't ask Tsunade in her current state. His ankle felt a little numb, so he guessed that it was sprained.

After some time passed (Lee didn't bother keeping track of time anymore, Guy told him it wasn't youthful), his two teammates, Tenten and Neji, walked casually into the room. "Lee!" Tenten scolded with an angry expression. "What have I told you and Guy-sensei about cliff diving?!"

Ah. That explained it.

Lee smiled sheepishly at Tenten and rubbed the back of his head. "I am sorry, Tenten, I promise you I did not do it on my own accord."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. I talked to Naruto, who was watching the whole thing. He said you and Guy-sensei were actually HUGGING as you plunged off the Hokage's monument. You idiot! That's dangerous!"

Neji sighed disdainfully. "Don't pay them too much mind, Tenten. They're destined to be stupid the rest of their lives anyway."

Lee fumed a moment at his rival's words, then noticed for the first time that Tenten and Neji were holding hands. The genin glared up at Neji. "Hey! Get your hands off of Tenten, Neji! Do you have no decency?"

Neji stared at Lee like he was a moron for a moment. "Oh, that's right, you were unconscious when it happened."

"When what happened?"

Tenten giggled and blushed. "Neji and I are going out."

Lee almost had a coronary. "HUH?!" he cried. _Darnit Neji! Tenten is MY territory! Back off!_

Neji nodded and smirked. "Well, we'd best be going. Hope you don't die." With that, the two were off.

Lee clenched his stomach at the shocking news. He'd had a crush on Tenten and was going to tell her sooner or later, but he didn't think something like this would happen. Why did his stomach hurt so much, though?

Suddenly, the door burst open. It was Naruto. He had a very grave look on his face. "Hey, Bushy Brow," he greeted. Lee blinked and nodded to Naruto with curiosity.

"Hello, Naruto."

"Um, listen, I was visiting Guy because Kakashi-sensei wanted me to check up on him for him, and…Shizune told me that…he's…terminal."

Lee screamed. His entire face turned white and his stomach suddenly lurched. Oh no, he was getting sick. Shizune rushed into his room and called out his name just before he blacked out…

When he woke up, Lee was in the same hospital bed. Tsunade was yelling at Naruto. Lee could faintly make out the conversation…

"Anyway Grandma, he way overreacted."

"You shouldn't have told him that!"

"I was just kidding! I thought he'd know that."

"Naruto, he's LEE. He's already stressed out enough, thanks for adding fuel to the fire."

Lee blinked awake fully and weakly looked around. "L-Lady Tsunade?" he barely made out. "What am I in for?"

Tsunade looked at Lee with mild surprise in her eyes. "Ulcers. You're stressed out."

Lee moaned and fell back into his pillow.


End file.
